Young Honors Marian Anderson With Day in PA

Rep. Regina Young June 3, 2024 | 2:58 PM

HARRISBURG, June 3 – State Rep. Regina Young, D-Phila./Delaware, today announced that the PA House of Representatives has approved her House resolution recognizing June 8, 2024 as Marian Anderson Day in Pennsylvania.

Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia and went on to be a world-renowned singer and civil rights icon. In 1936, she became the first African American to be invited to perform at the White House and the first individual to perform solo at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in 1939. That performance gained her worldwide recognition as it took place in front of a racially integrated audience and was heard by million on the radio, inspiring a new generation of civil rights crusaders.

Young said that honoring the experience of Marian Anderson should guide us to a better future.

“The powerful legacy of Marian Anderson should be uplifted with critical reverence in our community. The strength and bravery that she showed in the face of overt racism and misogyny during a difficult time of the history of our great nation is legendary. I’m so proud to see her name mentioned among our national heroes and honored by this House and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.”

On June 8, 2024, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Center City Philadelphia will be rededicated as Marian Anderson Hall in honor of the renowned singer, civil rights icon and Philadelphian. Anderson passed away in 1993 at 96.